scholarly journals Marine Algae Metabolites as Promising Therapeutics for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS

Metabolites ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalya N. Besednova ◽  
Tatyana N. Zvyagintseva ◽  
Tatyana A. Kuznetsova ◽  
Ilona D. Makarenkova ◽  
Tatyana P. Smolina ◽  
...  

This review presents an analysis of works devoted to the anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) activity of algae metabolites—sulfated polysaccharides (fucoidans, carrageenans), lectins, laminarans, and polyphenols. Despite the presence of a significant number of antiretroviral drugs, the development of new therapeutic and prophylactic agents against this infection remains very urgent problem. This is due to the variability of HIV, the absence of an animal model (except monkeys) and natural immunity to this virus and the toxicity of therapeutic agents and their high cost. In this regard, the need for new therapeutic approaches and broad-spectrum drugs, which in addition to antiviral effects can have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory effects, and to which the minimum resistance of HIV strains would be formed. These requirements meet the biologically active substances of marine algae. The results of experimental and clinical studies conducted in vitro and in vivo are presented, and the issues of the anti-HIV activity of these compounds are considered depending on their structural features. On the whole, the presented data prove the high efficiency of seaweed metabolites and justify the possibility of their use as a potential basis for the development of new drugs with a wide spectrum of activity.

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Ożarowski ◽  
Radosław Kujawski ◽  
Przemysław Ł. Mikołajczak ◽  
Karolina Wielgus ◽  
Andrzej Klejewski ◽  
...  

Summary Flavonoids and their conjugates are the most important group of natural chemical compounds in drug discovery and development. The search for pharmacological activity and new mechanisms of activity of these chemical compounds, which may inhibit mediators of inflammation and influence the structure and function of endothelial cells, can be an interesting pharmacological strategy for the prevention and adjunctive treatments of hypertension, especially induced by pregnancy. Because cardiovascular diseases have multi-factorial pathogenesis these natural chemical compounds with wide spectrum of biological activities are the most interesting source of new drugs. Extracts from one of the most popular plant used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi could be a very interesting source of flavonoids because of its exact content in quercetin, apigenin, chrysin and scutellarin as well as in baicalin. These flavonoids exert vasoprotective properties and many activities such as: anti-oxidative via several pathways, anti-in-flammatory, anti-ischaemic, cardioprotective and anti-hypertensive. However, there is lack of summaries of results of studies in context of potential and future application of flavonoids with determined composition and activity. Our review aims to provide a literature survey of in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo pharmacological studies of selected flavonoids (apigenin, chrysin and scutellarin, baicalin) in various models of hypertension carried out in 2008–2018.


Author(s):  
Jili Zhang ◽  
Hongfei Si ◽  
Kun Lv ◽  
Yanhua Qiu ◽  
Jichao Sun ◽  
...  

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular pathogen that infects warm-blooded animals and humans. However, side effects limit toxoplasmosis treatment, and new drugs with high efficiency and low toxicity need to be developed. Natural products found in plants have become a useful source of drugs for toxoplasmosis. In this study, twenty natural compounds were screened for anti-T. gondii activity by Giemsa staining or real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in vitro. Among these, licarin-B from nutmeg exhibited excellent anti-T. gondii activity, inhibiting T. gondii invasion and proliferation in a dose-dependent manner, with an EC50 of 14.05 ± 3.96 μg/mL. In the in vivo, licarin-B treatment significantly reduced the parasite burden in tissues compared to no treatment, protected the 90% infected mice from to death at 50 mg/kg.bw. Flow cytometry analysis suggested a significant reduction in T. gondii survival after licarin-B treatment. Ultrastructural changes in T. gondii were observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), as licarin-B induced mitochondrial swelling and formation of cytoplasmic vacuoles, an autophagosome-like double-membrane structure and extensive clefts around the T. gondii nucleus. Furthermore, MitoTracker Red CMXRos, MDC, and DAPI staining showed that licarin-B promoted mitochondrial damage, autophagosome formation, and nuclear disintegration, which were consistent with the TEM observations. Together, these findings indicate that licarin-B is a promising anti-T. gondii agent that potentially functions by damaging mitochondria and activating autophagy, leading to T. gondii death.


Marine Drugs ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Besednova ◽  
Tatiana Zaporozhets ◽  
Tatiana Kuznetsova ◽  
Ilona Makarenkova ◽  
Lydmila Fedyanina ◽  
...  

Context: Seaweed metabolites (fucoidans, carrageenans, ulvans, lectins, and polyphenols) are biologically active compounds that target proteins or genes of the influenza virus and host components that are necessary for replication and reproduction of the virus. Objective: This review gathers the information available in the literature regarding to the useful properties of seaweeds metabolites as potential agents for the prevention and therapy of influenza infection. Materials and methods: The sources of scientific literature were found in various electronic databases (i.e., PubMed, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect) and library search. The retrospective search depth is 25 years. Results: Influenza is a serious medical and social problem for humanity. Recently developed drugs are quite effective against currently circulating influenza virus strains, but their use can lead to the selection of resistant viral strains. In this regard, new therapeutic approaches and drugs with a broad spectrum of activity are needed. Metabolites of seaweeds fulfill these requirements. This review presents the results of in vitro and in vivo experimental and clinical studies about the effectiveness of these compounds in combating influenza infection and explains the necessity of their use as a potential basis for the creation of new drugs with a broad spectrum of activity.


Author(s):  
Boris Andryukov ◽  
Natalya Besednova ◽  
Tatyana Kuznetsova ◽  
Tatyana Zaporozhets ◽  
Svetlana Ermakova ◽  
...  

Wound healing involves a complex cascade of cellular, molecular, and biochemical responses and signaling processes. It consists of successive interrelated phases, the duration of which depends on multifactorial processes. Wound treatment is a major healthcare issue that can be resolved by development of effective and affordable wound dressings based on natural materials and biologically active substances. Proper use of modern wound dressings can significantly accelerate wound healing with minimal cosmetic defects. The innovative biotechnologies for creating modern natural interactive dressings are based on sulfated polysaccharides from seaweeds with their unique structures and biological properties, the availability of their sources in the form of wild bushes, and in the form of aquaculture, as well as with a high potential for participation in process control wound healing. These natural biopolymers are a novel and promising biologically active source for designing wound dressings based on alginates, fucoidans, carrageenans, and ulvans, which serve as active and effective therapeutic tools. The aim of this review is to summarize available information about the modern wound dressing’s technologies based on seaweed-derived polysaccharides, including those successfully implemented in commercial products, with the emphasis on promising and innovative designs. The further prospect of using marine biopolymers is related to the need to analyze the results of numerous in vitro and in vivo experiments, summarize clinical trial data, develop a scientifically based approach and relevant practical recommendations for the treatment of wounds.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-35
Author(s):  
Veronika A. Prikhodko ◽  
Yuriy I. Sysoev ◽  
Sergey Okovityi

Diseases of the nervous system, especially those of vascular, traumatic, and neurodegenerative nature, are characterized by high prevalence, disability and mortality rates, and therefore have a particularly big medical and social impact. Currently, pharmacotherapy options for these diseases are limited to a relatively small number of clinically proven drugs, which is largely due to the difficulties associated with the translation of preclinical studies results. This explains the essential importance of discovering and developing new drugs, both effective and safe, that could be used to reduce clinical manifestations of neurological disorders. The present review is aimed to give a detailed account of several biologically active derivatives of morpholine, a six-membered heterocyclic compound. As demonstrated by a number of in vitro and in vivo studies using cell and animal models, morpholine derivatives should be considered viable drug candidates for a broad range of neurological diseases.


2000 ◽  
Vol 68 (8) ◽  
pp. 4795-4801 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shah M. Faruque ◽  
Asadulghani ◽  
M. Mostafizur Rahman ◽  
Matthew K. Waldor ◽  
David A. Sack

ABSTRACT In toxigenic Vibrio cholerae, the cholera enterotoxin (CT) is encoded by CTXΦ, a lysogenic bacteriophage. The propagation of this filamentous phage can result in the origination of new toxigenic strains. To understand the nature of possible environmental factors associated with the propagation of CTXΦ, we examined the effects of temperature, pH, salinity, and exposure to direct sunlight on the induction of the CTX prophage and studied the transmission of the phage to potential recipient strains. Exposure of cultures of CTXΦ lysogens to direct sunlight resulted in ∼10,000-fold increases in phage titers. Variation in temperature, pH, or salinity of the culture did not have a substantial effect on the induction of the prophage, but these factors influenced the stability of CTXΦ particles. Exposure of mixed cultures of CTXΦ lysogens and potential recipient strains to sunlight significantly increased both the in vitro and in vivo (in rabbit ileal loops) transduction of the recipient strains by CTXΦ. Included in these transduction experiments were two environmental nontoxigenic (CTXΦ−) strains of V. cholerae O139. These two O139 strains were transduced at high efficiency by CTXΦ, and the phage genome integrated into the O139 host chromosome. The resulting CTXΦ lysogens produced biologically active CT both in vitro and in rabbit ileal loops. This finding suggests a possible mechanism explaining the origination of toxigenic V. cholerae O139 strains from nontoxigenic progenitors. This study indicates that sunlight is a significant inducer of the CTX prophage and suggests that sunlight-induced transmission of CTXΦ may constitute part of a natural mechanism for the origination of new toxigenic strains of V. cholerae.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 4458
Author(s):  
Minting Liu ◽  
Junjun Tao ◽  
Hongchen Guo ◽  
Liang Tang ◽  
Guorui Zhang ◽  
...  

Pearl powder is a biologically active substance that is widely used in traditional medicine, skin repair and maintenance. The traditional industrial extraction processes of pearl powder are mainly based on water, acid or enzyme extraction methods, all of which have their own drawbacks. In this study, we propose a new extraction process for these active ingredients, specifically, water-soluble components of pearl powder extracted by a CO2 supercritical extraction system (SFE), followed by the extraction efficiency evaluation. A wound-healing activity was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. This demonstrated that the supercritical extraction technique showed high efficiency as measured by the total protein percentage. The extracts exhibited cell proliferation and migration-promoting activity, in addition to improving collagen formation and healing efficiency in vivo. In brief, this study proposes a novel extraction process for pearl powder, and the extracts were also explored for wound-healing bioactivity, demonstrating the potential in wound healing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (37) ◽  
pp. 4888-4902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilda D'Urso ◽  
Sonia Piacente ◽  
Cosimo Pizza ◽  
Paola Montoro

The consumption of berry-type fruits has become very popular in recent years because of their positive effects on human health. Berries are in fact widely known for their health-promoting benefits, including prevention of chronic disease, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Berries are a rich source of bioactive metabolites, such as vitamins, minerals, and phenolic compounds, mainly anthocyanins. Numerous in vitro and in vivo studies recognized the health effects of berries and their function as bioactive modulators of various cell functions associated with oxidative stress. Plants have one of the largest metabolome databases, with over 1200 papers on plant metabolomics published only in the last decade. Mass spectrometry (MS) and NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) are the most important analytical technologies on which the emerging ''omics'' approaches are based. They may provide detection and quantization of thousands of biologically active metabolites from a tissue, working in a ''global'' or ''targeted'' manner, down to ultra-trace levels. In the present review, we highlighted the use of MS and NMR-based strategies and Multivariate Data Analysis for the valorization of berries known for their biological activities, important as food and often used in the preparation of nutraceutical formulations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reyaz Hassan Mir ◽  
Abdul Jalil Shah ◽  
Roohi Mohi-ud-din ◽  
Faheem Hyder Potoo ◽  
Mohd. Akbar Dar ◽  
...  

: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative brain disorder characterized by memory impairment, dementia, oxidative stress in elderly people. Currently, only a few drugs are available in the market with various adverse effects. So to develop new drugs with protective action against the disease, research is turning to the identification of plant products as a remedy. Natural compounds with anti-inflammatory activity could be good candidates for developing effective therapeutic strategies. Phytochemicals including Curcumin, Resveratrol, Quercetin, Huperzine-A, Rosmarinic acid, genistein, obovatol, and Oxyresvertarol were reported molecules for the treatment of AD. Several alkaloids such as galantamine, oridonin, glaucocalyxin B, tetrandrine, berberine, anatabine have been shown anti-inflammatory effects in AD models in vitro as well as in-vivo. In conclusion, natural products from plants represent interesting candidates for the treatment of AD. This review highlights the potential of specific compounds from natural products along with their synthetic derivatives to counteract AD in the CNS.


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